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Send Her My Love
part 2: Second Choice
inspired by journey’s send her my love
summary: several months later, a still hung-up steve hears that [Y/N] is back in hawkins from a semester at college and dustin has a trick or two up his sleeve
warnings: mentions of death/grief, (vague) spoilers for Stranger Things 2, angst,
a/n: part 3?
—
It's been so long
Since I've seen her face
Rain assaulted the sidewalks and scattered loose gravel across the asphalt of Hawkins. Few dared brave this weather in the setting sun and [Y/N] found herself standing alone on a darkened street as she stepped out of the taxi cab. The last of the autumn leaves fell silently to the ground, swept away with the wind and twirling under the angry raindrops’ direction.
This kind of quiet was hard to come by on a Saturday night in any town other than Hawkins, Indiana, as [Y/N] had learned in just one semester away from her hometown. As she pulled the last of her luggage up the steps to her front door, she swallowed back the urge to stand in the rain, just trying to recapture that raw Hawkins smell.
The house was uncomfortably quiet as [Y/N] stepped into the foyer and shut the door behind her. There were days when she might have expected to be tackled by a pair of giggling pigtails. Those days were long gone, now.
[Y/N] should have been angry. Her Father never showed at the bus station to drive her home, and she used the last of her cash to pay for a cab. No doubt he got caught up in something at work again, an occurrence that became daily two years ago. If she had one guess, her Mother had a wine glass between her lips and no clue what day it was, or when her daughter was due to come home. She knew she should be angry at her parents for just shutting down on her like that. But instead, she just felt numb.
Sighing, she made her way up the staircase to her old bedroom. The movement was automatic, and if she weren’t so drowsy, [Y/N] might have caught a glimpse of the ghostly bedroom beside hers and forgotten how to breathe. She collapsed on her twin bed and let out a heavy sigh. If she thought last Christmas had been hard, she was in for a world of hurt when this year finally came to a close.
Two blocks and one left turn away, Steve Harrington sat on his own bed, staring at the ceiling and feeling very sorry for himself. He twiddled his thumbs over his chest, trying to figure out how he’d ended up in this mess. A year ago, he might have blamed Nancy Wheeler and all her empty promises for holding him back; he knew better now, though.
Time worked in mysterious ways. Sixteen-year-old Steve had the whole world before him; ask anyone in town back then and they’d all tell you that the charming young man was destined for things much bigger than Hawkins. He could see that life laid out for him in his head, even now. Daydream-Steve left high school a local legend: star athlete, the town’s teen heartthrob, Prom King, committed to play basketball at a reputable college, the works. In this life, he might move to a big city for work, meet the love of his life, and settle down somewhere nice. But Steve’s plan didn’t include demogorgons, losing his girlfriend and his popular friends, or befriending thirteen-year-olds. Most of all, he never imagined that he might meet the love of his life right here in Hawkins, or that she would be the one who got out of this godforsaken town. But Steve supposed that was what he had coming to him for being such an arrogant prick.
Now 19 and finally growing up, Steve reckoned he might not like the person he would have become in that daydream of his. He might still be right where he was a year ago, but at least he could look himself in the eye whenever he passed by a mirror.
Growing tired of his pity party, Steve dragged himself up out of bed and fished his keys out of his jeans pocket.
You say she's doin' fine
I still recall
A sad cafe
Jittery and nursing his second cup of coffee for the evening, Steve danced around the elephant in the room. Dustin, who sat across from him, was glaring holes into his forehead. The kid had just dropped a bomb on Steve’s lap and now expected his friend to thank him.
“S-she’s back?”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Jeez, Harrington, are you even listening?”
His quip fell onto deaf ears, however; Steve couldn’t focus on anything but the pounding in his chest. [Y/N] was back in Hawkins.
“Hey, Earth to Steve!”
“Yes, what? Chill!”“
“I said,” he scoffed. “She’s doing fine, Steve. Really, I haven’t seen her this happy since-“
Steve nodded slowly, digesting the information about as well as some bad seafood. This was exactly what he’d wanted to hear, so why did he feel so sick?
“You should talk to her.”
“What? Don’t be stupid, Dustin,” he paused. “She doesn’t want to see me, that was made pretty clear.”
“It’s been a long time, Steve. How can you be so sure?”
Tugging on his hair, Steve groaned. He’d never been good at dealing with his emotions. Pretending not to have any was just so easy that for a while he almost forgot they were there. Until [Y/N].
A thick silence fell over the two and Steve was about to suggest he drive Dustin home when he was interrupted. The younger of the two boys leaned forward on the table, smirking with the knowledge that he knew something Steve didn’t. Steve wagged a finger at him, preparing to tell him off.
But he didn’t get a single word in before the door chime sounded and he forgot how to speak. The cafe the two boys sat in was empty this time of night, save for them and a tired-looking waitress wiping the counters. But that stupid door chime rang and Steve caught one look at her. Shaking the rain from her coat and hair, [Y/N] stepped in and looked around for Dustin.
A harsh pink tint bit her nose from the cold and she looked tired, but [Y/N] still glowed with a youthful beauty that was rare in such a small town. She mustn’t have seen Steve until after she reached their booth. Her lips parted to greet the young teen but something stopped her. That something couldn’t seem to speak himself.
She saw him and the smile slipped from her lips just as quickly as Steve was slipping from his grip on reality.
